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Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

Faithful Reader — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 19:55:43 -0000

I know there hasn't been an addition to this discussion for a long time now, but hopefully this will get seen!

From the St Louis Post-Dispatch, Friday August 25th.

U.S. says storms werenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t a disaster

Gov. Rod Blagojevich and local officials are fuming over a decision by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that Illinois counties hard-hit by severe windstorms that roared through the region on July 19 and 21 are not eligible for federal disaster aid.

Damage in Illinois "was not of such severity and magnitude as to be beyond the capabilities of the state and affected local governments," FEMA Director R. David Paulison said in a letter to Blagojevich on Wednesday.

Patti Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, said the state requested $8.2 million in federal aid to help offset state and local expenditures.

Blagojevich said he was "extremely disappointed" and would work with the state's congressional delegation on an appeal.

"Hundreds of thousands of people were without power, many lost their homes, and yet the Bush administration is washing its hands of the responsibility to help communities recover," he said.

U.S. Reps. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, and John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, both said the ruling should be appealed. And one mayor said he thought politics and demographics played a role in the decision.

The storms caused widespread damage in several Illinois communities. Among the hardest-hit were Bethalto, East Alton, Wood River, Granite City, Cahokia and Mount Vernon. Thousands of people lost electricity, some for a week or more.

The state's application for assistance said the storms destroyed 33 structures and damaged hundreds of others in the five counties.

Rick Fancher, Granite City's public works director, said the storms caused more damage than any other disaster in the city's history.

"The agency reviewed the information provided," said Jean Baker, a spokeswoman in FEMA's Chicago office. "It's based on the preliminary damage assessments and other information provided by the state."

A federal disaster declaration makes federal money available to state and local governments to offset cleanup and other disaster-related costs, and to property owners for damages that are not covered by insurance.

Blagojevich declared Clinton, Madison, Jefferson, St. Clair and Washington counties state disaster areas after the storms, making local governments in those counties eligible for state cleanup assistance.

FEMA has designated the city of St. Louis and the Missouri counties of Dent, Iron, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. Louis, Oregon and Washington as federal disaster areas and eligible for federal help.

"It's disheartening," said Madison County Board Chairman Alan Dunstan. "I'm kind of flabbergasted that we were turned down."

Dunstan said three weeks ago that the county and local governments in Madison County had spent $1.4 million. He said Thursday that the expenses have continued to mount and the cleanup won't be done for several more weeks.

"We're not asking for a billion dollars," he said. "A million or two would go a long way."

Cahokia Mayor Frank Bergman was bitterly critical of the FEMA ruling on Thursday. He said he did not think any part of the area was harder-hit than his city.

"I think it has to do with politics and the demographics of this area," he said. "If this was a wealthier area, I think we'd get a better response."

Bergman praised assistance to Cahokia from IEMA.

"Illinois did a great job," he said. "Without the state helping us, we could not have continued to operate as a city."

Bergman said Cahokia's finances will be crippled without help.

"In most years, we have $10,000 to $15,000 in our budget to play around with," he said. "In a good year, it might be $50,000. Here, we're talking hundreds of thousands (in storm-related expenses)."

Mayor Steve Bryant of Bethalto in Madison County said property damage is estimated at $4 million in the village. He said the storms have cost the village almost $200,000 in overtime and equipment rental costs.

"We will not recover from this for a long time," he said.

Now Mr. Blagojevich, who is so concerned about the impacted area that he STILL hasn't even been there, gets all indignant and blames Washington. The fact of the matter is that Presidential Declarations and federal assistance are based not upon visible human suffering, but instead upon implied human suffering as indicated by a mathematical formula of damage/cost dollars per capita. That makes things cold, hard and bureaucratic - but also consistent and makes sure there's at least one thing FEMA can't screw up. The math was not there for the Metro East area; that's not necessarily right but at least I understand it. What I do not understand is Blago's continued refusal to visit the area, and his tolerance of the rude comments made by his empty-suit lackey IEMA chief. Burke's head should roll today for his appalling attitude towards the suffering citizens his department is charged with bringing relief to, followed in November by Blago's for his indifference to any citizen or area outside of metro Chicago.

"The Bush administration is washing its hands of the responsibility to help communities recover"? People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones - Blagojevich and Burke need to look no further than their own mirrors to find those truly responsible.

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

bored now — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 14:37:03 -0000

ydd may remember that i live south of i-80 -- something i've found fascinating. and, yes, i am vaguely aware of the state's presence in tornado alley. but i've also been told that tornados trigger combined disaster responses less than a third of the time. spot disaster responses are by no means coordinated affairs. what happened "down there" this time should have been, and i was discussing reasons why an appropriate response was impeded. (btw, the fact that these kinds of weather events occur when people are on vacation is not surprising -- and should have been planned.)

again, i don't think that invalidates my comments, but feel free to show me if it does!

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

Rich Miller — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 08:18:34 -0000

My great-grandmother was killed in that tornado.

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

Yellow Dog Democrat — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 07:34:56 -0000

Apparently, bored now hasn't spent much time south of I-80.

According to this map, Illinois south of I-80 lays right in "Tornado Alley", where the deadliest tornadoes occur. Why do they call it Tornado Alley?

"In 1925 the Tri-State tornado killed 695 people in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana".

bored now, you might also read this primer by USA TODAY, entitled "Tornadoes are Earth's most violent storms."

"Tornadoes are the most violent storms on Earth. Winds spiraling into them usually exceed 100 mph and can reach speeds of 300 mph. In the USA, an average of 1,000 tornadoes spin up beneath thunderstorms each year, and these typically kill about 60 people."

BTW, the Metro-East was the site of the third-deadliest tornado in history, which killed 255 and injured 1,000.

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

There's Ole Uncle Joe — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 22:19:05 -0000

Residents should not expect a government hand out....all the Metro East money ($55 million) went to Sparta for Sam Flood's family and friends network. There is no money left!

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

Hmmmm........... — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 21:45:14 -0000

8:24 "Anonynous Again" is that you, Rod? Did Patti let you use the computer after the kids went to bed?

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

Billy Raybobb — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 21:19:19 -0000

Blagojevich was vacationing on Mackinac island the whole week those storms occurred. Probably with the entire senior staff along. Since they micro-manage everything and don't let the untrustworthy people on the ground make decisions, it is little wonder it took so long to approve aid and mobilize resources. When there is no trust, your organization tends to be many-layered and vertical, instead of the distributed and flatter, horizontal organizational model that's best able to handle a dynamic situation with speed and flexibility. I bet there are plenty of experienced profesional folks down in the storm damaged areas that knew exactly what to do and who to talk to from long experience... but they've all been muzzled or replaced with partisan hacks.

As far as IEMA and the Southern Comfort exercise, they needed and were promised about a thousand volunteers to play the part of evacuees for one disaster drill, and they got less than fifty. Perhaps the simulated disaster was deadlier than they thought. Or, knowing the enmity this administration and downstate/Metro East feel for each other, it makes more sense that they don't really talk to each other but past each other or over each other.

The truly horrible, criminal part of that is, this is part of the region that would most likely take the worst damage if the mega-quake everyone expects from the New Madrid fault lets loose... This is an early warning symptom, people, that all the attention and meaningful planning has been paid to Chicago and there is lots more advance work that needs doing down South to GET COORDINATED. And the elected officials need to stop comparing their collective inseams, put their egos on a hanger somewhere and and start learning to be responsive public servants and how to save citizen's lives and property.

BTW, why can't the governor vacation in Illinois? Can't DCEO tourism find him any fun places to go inside state lines?
I hear Sparta is nice this time of year.

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

bored now — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 21:14:12 -0000

i'm sorry, william, i wasn't talking about the national guard at all. the national guard is basically manpower, and neither the planning or lead agency in disaster response. you seem to have some connection to or knowledge of the national guard, and your criticisms reflect that knowledge base, not the insights i've provided.

basic awareness of how disaster response and terrorism planning can be found at the iema website.

finally, as your point that the governor should have been there, i completely agree. i've said this previously. blagojevich's lack of leadership in this area in no way deflects from the criticisms i made.

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

annon. in the stykes — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 21:08:18 -0000

As I've said here time & time again !? What do you expect from this bunch ! They've "bolixed up" about everything they come in contact with , bar none !!

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

proud state copper — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 20:22:15 -0000

They had the same exercise in Chicago last spring at an undisclosed sight. The feds pick a site and a terrorist situation occurs, then the State Police respond and the Feds grade the response. Trouble is, the ISP covertly knew where the site was going to be, the ISP did their homework, they played it out over and over, and when the mock situation occured, they handled it like real pros. Blago then put out a press release on how professional the operation was carried out. We should all be scared to death about how this state responds to these disasters, real or not.

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

William — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 20:15:35 -0000

Bored, I can't believe how wrong you are on every point you mention. You diss our emergency responders with your excuses. Please don't throw the National Guard under the bus to save this poor governor's carcass.

First, we're talking a natural disaster here, so don't try to confuse the matter by talking about terrorism and the federal government.

Contrary to your assertion, Illinois is a big natural disaster state. We've had our share of floods and the big scenario the National Guard plans for is a repeat of the the New Madrid earthquake of 1812, the biggest in US history.

As far as exercises go, the Illinois Guard is as we blog in the Metro East area having a long planned emergency response exercise. This was planned long ago.

To oyur third point, the responsibilities for natural disasters (what we're talking about here) are well established.

Fourth, in the era of satellite and cell phones, I don't buy the commo problems, unless the Guv puts himself someplace where he doesn't want to be bothered.

Fifth, this is a natural disaster, not a terrorist action, and the Guard has separate equipment to handle the WMD/terrorist events.

Last, from a leadership perspective, it is inexcusable if the Guv hasn't been down there to see the damage first-hand. Instead, we hear he's attending ball games while hundreds of our fellow citizens live under tarps. What are we, three weeks after the event? The Guv could take a Guard helo and make the tour in half a day. Has he really been at Wrigley?

How's that for a headline--"Guv Ignores Major Storm Damage, Attends Game at Wrigley".

Incredible.

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

Arthur Andersen — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 19:54:08 -0000

The irony meter hits the peg when you note that the Blago PR machine issued a release today congratulating themselves on a big success over the weekend in the Metro-East area, as detailed below:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 8, 2006

IllinoisÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ State Weapons of Mass Destruction Team demonstrates capability to take down terrorist groups during final day of Metro East exercise
TuesdayÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s drill demonstrates award-winning teamÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s ability to respond to terrorist threat

SPRINGFIELD Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The State of IllinoisÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ large-scale terrorist response exercise concluded Tuesday morning in the Metro East as the State Weapons of Mass Destruction Team (SWMDT) successfully demonstrated its ability to take down a mock terrorist group responsible for several simulated attacks staged during the exercise. (Please note: this is an exercise only, designed to improve emergency planning and preparedness.) The scenario was part of a multi-day exercise that brought together responders from federal, state and local agencies to test response to multiple disaster scenarios.

IllinoisÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ emergency response exercise began Friday morning with a mock rail yard explosion scenario in Edwardsville that triggered an evacuation and sheltering exercise of area residents. As part of the scenario, local law enforcement discovered evidence of explosives. In response, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich, as part of the exercise, Ã¢â‚¬Å“orderedÃ¢â‚¬Â several actions to protect citizens, including calling up Illinois National Guard troops, increasing security at critical infrastructure in the Metro East area and declaring a state disaster declaration. The Governor also approved deploying the SWMDT, which followed up on intelligence reports gathered throughout the exercise to locate and take down the fictitious terrorist group.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“The state weapons of mass destruction teamÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s quick, effective response in this exercise scenario shows that we have the capacity to take down terrorists,Ã¢â‚¬Â said Gov. Blagojevich. Ã¢â‚¬Å“While we hope that we never have an actual terrorist attack in Illinois, exercises like this will help make sure that these teams are well-prepared if one ever occurs.Ã¢â‚¬Â

The more cynical above us might speculate that the Weapons of Mass Destruction Team has been spending most of their time working on anything having to do with Stu Levine, but that's just speculation.

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

Robbie — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 19:41:16 -0000

Some people seemed to find offense with my choice of words. When I called it a wind event I was merely applying my understanding of what happened. I would like to reiterate that I was indeed in the path of the storms that day. I happened to be at work when it hit up here.

The reason I called it a wind event is because for the most part it was not a tornadic complex of storms. If you look at this link http://www.spc.noaa.gov/cli... you will notice that there were a few tornado reports, but that it was far and away wind damage that was reported. I saw above someone said there were 8 or 9 tornadoes, but according to the National Weather Service, that just isn't the case. If I remember correctly the event was that is called 'derecho.' It is a more rare weather even than tornadoes, but can be similarly destructuve.

So I once again want to say that I was not meaning to downplay the event at all. As a trained weather spotter I just have a different vocabulary of weather than people who just want to say it was bad. My apologies for not conveying my meaning well enough.

I do hold to my point that I think as a general rule, we have very high expectations of post-disaster response.

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

Link — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 19:35:05 -0000

Seems like some here are still hanging out at Max's farm when they smoke and mirror the focus from state response to Bush...

One thing that I wonder about is that the first case of West Nile Disease was diagnosed in an individual who resides in Madison County back in July - and I wonder if this infection came as a result of their being without power..

Maybe a stretch but not as much as some of what I read here.

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

Minion — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 18:51:53 -0000

funny comment above about Granberg...

did this IEMA guy come from Illinois or is he another out of touch, out of state hack who knows nothing about Illinois? Not that I mind hacks, but I prefer ones who know the state.

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

bored now — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 18:35:51 -0000

not that there's a great interest in facts here -- never let an inconvenient fact get in the way of your ideology, right? -- but the ineptitude that y'all are criticizing was actually predictable. it's a choice that *we* made.

first of all, illinois isn't exactly a center of emergency occurrances. we don't get annual emergency events like some other states, events that allow emergency response to be refined.

secondly, planning for emergencies is not enough. you have to train for emergency response, and this is an area that has been critically cut back by our mis-adventures in iraq.

third, planning for emergencies means defining responsibilities -- and making sure that all parties (local, state and federal) are properly equipped to fulfill their assigned roles. it appears that this has not happened.

fourth, an emergency communications strategy was clearly not in place in these areas (and probably the whole state). this always produces a slow response. but the lack of an effective emergency communications strategy would lead both sides to believe they were right -- the governor to believe that they were doing everything they could do, while local officials believe that they weren't. i've seen this so many times in the aftermath of emergency response efforts that it's ridiculous.

fifth, the federal government has been pushing local and state governments hard to re-align their emergency resources to fit their view of the terrorist threat. this has caused considerable havoc in the emergency response community, not only with governments, but also with the ngos and churches who are key to in-country emergency response.

finally, the lack of funding from local, state and federal governments all contributed to, and caused, these mishaps. you *can* blame the governor, if you like. every state executive should know better. but you should also blame the president and the priorities he's set for our country.

accidential emergencies simply don't count anymore. that has nothing to do with where the governor lives. it has to do with the choices the president made in the budget and the priorities he's established for manpower and resources. the governor, any governor, is basically a pawn in this game. the president failed downstate. just as the president failed in katrina. these were choices he made, and choices that we (the electorate) ratified. it's hard for me to see how blagojevich is even a significant player in this event...

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

Down in Egypt — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 18:33:45 -0000

When Marion was hit by a tornado in 1982, Gov. Jim Thompson was on site either the next day (Sunday) or on Monday. When another smaller tornado came through in 1990 or 1991 Jim Edgar was on the ground touring damage the next day within 24 hours of the event.

The St. Louis area was hit by 8 or 9 tornadoes during last month's "Wind Event" - a term better used for a politician's news conference, than what the MetroEast faced.

Unless he was hospitalized or out of the country, there was no excuse not to fly down.

I don't expect a governor to wave a magic wand and fix everything, but we do have the right to expect the governor to know what is going on throughout the state, at least when it comes to major disasters.

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

Lovie's Leather — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:44:30 -0000

It is one thing to say that, "We were slow, but we did things as fast as we could and as fast as the weather would allow us." It is quite another to say, "Some people were just complaining." That really implies that, "we don't really care." How could somebody that works in government let a slip like that go? Being involved in government, you should know how the media and the opposition react and choose your words based on that. I don't care if Burke was being honest or not, either way he looks like a total ass. If Blagojevich gets off his butt and makes an example of this guy, he has a shot at looking like the hero. But he won't. As politically opportunistic as Blago is, he doesn't capitalize on things such as this. Let me officially call for it... I want William Burke's resignation, not only for the way he mishandled the storms, but for the way he has publicly conducted himself since.

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

Anon — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:38:30 -0000

One of the first things Governors are taught in "new governors' school" is the importance - both governmentally and politically - of quickly responding to natural disasters. I guess ARod got a C in that class too - if he even showed up.

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

Todd Castro(ger) aka Wumpus — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:32:47 -0000

Come on, it is the government! We saw in Nola that the city, state and feds couldn't get it right.

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

paper bag over my head — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:27:59 -0000

How can anyone justify the Governor"s inability to go see first hand this disaster. I find great offense in Robbie's comments. It wasn't just a "wind event" it was real people and real suffering and those people matter every bit as much as the ones that live in Chicago. The guy from IEMA should be canned right now and the governor should be in November.

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

diane — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:07:20 -0000

The storm aftermath and power outages affected nearly two million people on both sides of the river. Consider the aftermath if 3/4's of Chicagoland was out of power for more than a week. That scenario plus high temperatures and trees down everywhere made for exhausting days and nights. Add to that residents of the metro east seeing newspaper and hearing radio reports of the Missouri governor and St. Louis mayor at all the hard hit areas day after day mobilizing whatever help they could muster and you might understand why Illinois folks felt ignored. It wasn't money, anyone wanted it was mobilization of resources to get things done. Ameren UE did a great job on the Illinois side, but some areas, Granite City in particular, was so devastated it took forever to get them power and water.

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

Failure — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:04:27 -0000

Rod was too busy attending the Cubs game Saturday to find his way down to the metro east.

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

The Crux of the Matter is this — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:02:18 -0000

Well, when you put complete and total Mental Midgets like Scott Gauvin on the case, this is what happens to you...

Re: You’re doing a heckuva PR job, Billy

illrino — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:01:40 -0000

Don't underestimate the importance of this issue. The MetroEast area, and its legislators, were solidly behind Blago four years ago. Their support was squishy support even before the admin mishandled this crisis (days without power is a crisis even if it's not in Cook County.) Look for this to be a very big problem in a geographic area that the Blago team needs in November.

You can hear the politicos whispering "Lisa Madigan would have never let this happen."